Fountain pen with porous writing nib and reservoir filled with absorbent material



Aprll 22, 1952 PATCH 2,593,599

FOUNTAIN PEN WITH POROUS WRITING NIB AND RESERVOIR FILLED WITH ABSORBENTMATERIAL Filed Sept. -15, 1946 INVENTOR. An f/m/zy P. Pafc'b s iufPatented Apr. 22, 1952 FOUNTAIN PEN WITH POROUS WRITING NIB ANDRESERVOIR FILLED WITH AB- SORBENT MATERIAL Anthony P. Patch, Detroit,Mich, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Dri-Flo Manufacturing 00.,Hazel Park, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application September 13,1946, Serial No. 696,688

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to pens and it has to In pens of the type whichemploy a solvent which is relatively highly volatile, difficulty isexperienced with what is termed sweating. The solvent, carrying coloringor pigment with it, escapes through joints. When this joint is coveredby a cap, the air cannot reach the joint and therefore the coloredsolvent runs over some of the surfaces and discolors the same. This is,of course, odjectionable and the general purpose of this invention is toprovide an improved pen structure which will overcome this objectionablesweating characteristic.

One pen which has this characteristic is a pen where the ink is absorbedby a fibrous filler within the barrel of the pen and where the writinginstrument or nib is, itself, a fibrous element, such as a piece offelt. Such pens have many uses as, for example, in the writing ofaddresses in mailing departments and in other commercial establishments.Accordingly, such a pen is selected herein for the disclosure of theinvention. In carrying out the invention, novel structure is embodiedwhereby the air has access to the -lo cation or locations where thesweating is liable to occur so that the volatile solvent is evaporatedimmediately at the joint or location of the sweating action with theresult that the coloring material is not carried over or onto exteriorsurfaces.

Fig. 1 shows a pen constructed in accordancev with the invention and hasparts cut away and some parts of its structure in cross section.

Fig. 2 is a view of several of the parts in separated relationship.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showingsome of the dimensions and clearances in exaggerated manner.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view showing structural featuresand vent passages.

As illustrated in Fig. l, the pen comprises a body or barrel I which isclosed at one end as shown at 2. At its other end, it is provided with.

internal threads 3. A closure and nib holder 4 is of hollow form havinga threaded end arranged to be received by the internal threads 3 and ithas an intermediate enlargement 5 for abutment against the end portion 6of the barrel. This nib holder has an extension I, the end of which isslotted as at 8.

When these pen parts are assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the barrelis substantially filled with an absorbent fibrous material such as afelt do particularly with pens of the fountain type.

III. There is also a filler of similar material II in the nib holder 4,one end of which contacts holder.

with the felt III in the barrel while a nib of suitable material, suchas felt, as illustrated at I2, is disposed within the slot 8 and itcontacts with the filler II. In use, the nib I2 is used as the Writinginstrument per se and the ink fiows thereto through the fibroussubstances, probably by capillary action. .A cap for the pen isillustrated at I5 and. this cap is impervious so as to prevent access ofair generally to the nib.

It has'been found that a pen thus constructed has a sweating action atthe location of the joint where the enlargement 5 abuts the barrel end6. Due to the highly volatile nature of the solvent, there is such arapid evaporation when the cap is removed that no discoloring oi theadjacent parts occurs. However, when a cap is placed upon the barrel andit cuts off air from access to this joint, the sweating solvent flowsover the surface and there is a resultant objectionable coloring.

To meet this situation, an element which may be termed a ferrule,generally shown at It, is mounted on the holder 4. This ferrule has anenlarged portion I! which is press fitted or otherwise fixedly mountedon the enlargement 5 of the For the purpose of the passage of airthrough this pressed fit joint, the enlarged portion 5 is provided withone or more flats I8. A smaller portion of the ferrule, as illustratedat ISa, may be knurled for gripping the same and this smaller portionhas an internal bore I9 which fits over the extension I.

When the ferrule is applied to the holder, the connection is relativelypermanent. The interior surfaces of the ferrule and the exteriorsurfaces of the holder are such that an internal chamber 20 is providedas shown in Fig. 4. Also, the walls of the internal bore I9 fit looselyon the extension I so that there is an unsealed joint or air passageway2|. The passage or passage provided by the one or more flats I 8 isillustrated at 22. The enlarged portion ll of the ferrule is preferablyof slightly larger diameter than that of the barrel I so that when thecap I5 is applied thereto, the skirt of the cap does not seal againstthe r wall of the barrel but is slightly spaced therefrom thus providinga clearance space or passage 23.

As mentioned above, if the cap is not applied to the pen, there is noobjectionable sweating because the highly volatile nature of the solventis such that it evaporates instanter and does not carry the colorin overthe surfaces of the barrel or over other parts. When the cap I5 isapplied to the structure of this invention, the objectionable coloringdue to the sweating, is likewise overcome. It will be seen by referenceto Fig. 4, that any ink which sweats or is emitted at the joint betweenthe end of the barrel and the enlargement 5 seeps into the space 23.However, this is not a sealed space and there is an adequate supply ofair which can pass into and out of the space for evaporating the solventimmediately at the joint. Thus, the coloring material is not carriedover the surfaces of the barrel nor, for that matter, deposited on theinterior walls of the cap.

It has also been found that sweating will occur at the small end of theferrule and to overcome this, the slight clearance at 21 is provided.Inasmuch as the clearance or space 2| communicates with the chamber 20,the sweating action occurs in the space 2| and in the chamber 20. It maybe that the small space 2| is such that the sweating ink moves into thesame by capillary action, and then as it passes into the larger chamber29, the solvent is evaporated by the air which has access theretothrough the passages 22 and 23. Whatever be the action, it is found thatthe construction thus described effectively overcomes the deposit ofcoloring material on the surfaces due to sweating.

I claim:

A fountain pen comprising, a barrel having an open end, a holder securedto the open end of the barrel and forming a joint therewith, said holderhaving a passage therethrough, a nib of porous material mounted in thpassage of the holder and projecting from the end thereof, the barrelbeing packed with absorbent material for containing ink with theabsorbent material contacting the nib, said solder having an enlargedpart adjacent the end of and outside the barrel, a ferrule surroundingthe holder and having an internally enlarged end portion fitted on theenlarged part of the holder to be carried thereby with portions of theinterfitting surfaces of said end portion and said enlarged part havingclearance relative to each other to provide a passage, interior surfacesof the other end of the ferrule being free of the holder to provide apassage, the intermediate interior surfaces of the ferrule being spacedfrom the holder to provide a chamber between said two passages, saidpassages and chamber being in communication with each other, and a capadapted to be mounted on the enlarged end of the ferrule and totelescope over the end portion of the barrel, the internal diameter ofthe cap being greater than that of the end portion of the barrel, toprovide a passage therebetween which is in communication with thepassage between the enlarged part of the holder and the internallyenlarged end of the ferrule, whereby when the cap is in position, all ofsaid passages and said chamber are in communication with the atmosphere.

ANTHONY P. PATCH.

EEFEREIilJES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 426,622 Madden Apr. 29, 1890566,558 Bell Aug. 25, 1896 631,824 Robinson Aug. 29, 1899 1,173,865 RiesFeb. 29, 1916 1,514,519 Harris Nov. 4, 1924 1,938,314 Bromer Dec. 5,1933 2,097,496 Lunzer Nov. 2, 1937 2,107,424 Platt Feb. 8, 19382,416,596 Rosenthal Feb. 25, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date167,843 Germany of 1906 515,113 France of 1921

